Saturday, 15 August 2015

'Even More' English Thatched Country Cottages

Three years ago I published a post showing English thatched country cottages which for some reason sits resolutely at the top of my "Popular Posts". It has received over 2000 hits. A further post entitled 'The Ambassadors' by Hans Holbein has received the most visits numbering over 9000.

So to all those thatched country cottage lovers out there, wherever you are, may I present you with more♥

64 comments:

Delightful - my parents had a thatched cottage for a while at West Chiltington. Unfortunately, they heard that their offer had been accepted on the day before I flew back to New Zealand and by the time I returned they had moved again so I never got to go inside.

I love the thatched cottages of your country and took so many photos of them when we were there. Good idea they have all chicken wire over the thatch. We have thatched roofs, although not so many as in your country, but here I never see the chicken wire. For instance our neighbours have a thatched roof and the craws are picking the reeds out of it to use for nests, I wonder how long it takes before it's leaking.

Not all thatched roofs here are wire netted - those made of long straw are always netted, whereas those made from water reed are not. I suspect that once a gap appears then the birds would have a fine old time with the thatch, but really it should be compacted so tightly that birds should not be able to remove it.

Dear Rosemary, So glad you are sharing a few more pictures of Thatched Roof cottages. They look so cozy and warm. So many of the roofs look so well maintained. It must be that they are constantly being repaired and kept up. I am so pleased to see that this art form is alive and well. As always, your photographs are beautiful. I love the inclusion of flowers in each scene.

Dear Britta - roof toppings or finials are often a thatching skill and craft that runs in families who are known for their own distinctive ornaments. It also depends on the house owner too as to whether they want a finial or not. Birds are particularly popular i.e pheasants, ducks, and animals foxes, cats etc.

Over recent years there has been a big revival in the thatched cottage Yvette. Years ago many had their thatch removed but most have now had the thatch reinstated. Thatched cottages hundreds of years ago were for farm and manual workers, but now they are very desirable.

Fantastic cottages and a very beautiful village! It must be a great place to live and to visit. It is funny looking at our most popular posts isn't it and seeing things that we thought might be ordinary that get a lot of views from others! xx

Hello Rosemary,Such a beautiful village with so many well kept thatched cottages. I love the warmth they exude. As you probably know our first home was a thatched cottage in the west of Ireland by the ocean.. My heart always skips a beat when I see a thatched roof.Thanks for your marvellous photos

Hello Helen - I do remember the photo of your thatched roofed home in the west of Ireland. It is interesting the way that they are making a big comeback, and the craft of thatching is expanding rapidly.

Thank you very much Charlie - I wonder if this one will be able to knock the other from the top of the popular posts list?The first photo just happened to have all the necessary elements in place with the deep terracotta brickwork, the hollyhocks, and the rustic fence.Lovely to hear from you Charlie♡

I was certainly one of those people who helped elevate the standings of your thatched roof posting! I've always found the look charming, and as I study your latest photographs, I can imagine that the style is efficient and practical. I really like the scalloping along the top!

Dear Mark - historically different thatching patterns have emerged over the centuries depending on which materials were available locally. For example water reeds are used in East Anglia with Norfolk reed being especially prized by thatchers. In northern England and Scotland heather was used, in fact I showed a house thatched with heather when we last visit to Scotland. The cottages I show here, in the south of England, will have been made from wheat straw.

We just happened to drive through the village from our hotel to the next NT property we planned to visit Patricia - we stopped as there were so many cottages clustered together - you are right, hollyhocks are the flower of choice to sit outside a cottage - they define the look

Hello Rosemary, The British get so many things right--from ancient stonework to thatched cottages and small villages. A lot of the charm is from the way these past beauties are prized and cared for--although I guess that might not apply to stone ruins!--JimPS Sorry about my erratic responses lately; I just today got back to Taiwan, and had limited internet access on my trip.

Guilty! I may be responsible for at least 10 of the 2000 views of your thatched cottages post :) and if you accompany photos of these fairytale-like roofs with clusters of hollyhocks, as you have done today, I'll be back for many more.

It was fortunate that the hollyhocks happen to be flowering at this particular moment because they are the quintessential accompaniment to thatched cottages - I think that it must all go back to Victorian paintings done by Helen Allingham of English cottages which invariably had roses round the door and hollyhocks marching along the fences.

They just look so idyllic don't they, not sure I would want to live in one though. We have two thatched cottages in our village. One of them is being re-thatched at the moment - they have been at it for weeks, such a long job but wonderful to watch. The man of the family who live there suffers from asthma and when they started taking the old thatch off he suffered quite badly from the spores etc. and ended up in hospital. Beautiful photos.

I have never wanted to live in one Elaine, but as I get older I think that I would quite like to experience living in an old thatched cottage. Mind you it would have to be well restored and filled with the latest mod cons, but still retain its character of course.

Thank you so much Orvokki - you have made my day - thank you.There has definitely been a renewed resurgence in these thatch cottages - they are of course, environmentally friendly using natural resources, keep the house very warm in winter, and cool in the summer, and they look attractive too.

Glad you enjoyed seeing them Marian - there is definitely a resurgence of thatched cottages here, people really want to live in them again - also they are environmentally friendly using natural resources.

I am behind again, and just read this post. Or rather admired it - all those lovely old cottages! I must visit this village and stay awhile. You have perfectly captured the charm. It is funny which of our posts end up being the most popular but I can easily see why thatched cottages would be at the top of any reader list, at least for me! x

This post has nearly caught up with the other one - fingers crossed it will knock it off the top spot soon. I am sure that you have noticed the name of the village on the Butchers sign, if you do visit you will be very near to (NT) Claydon House and (NT) Waddesden Manor too.